End Racism-We're All in it Together
by Balin Lord of Moria
Summary: First of a series of poems about racial problems between species in Star Wars. The Mon Calamari and the Quarren of Dac have a long history of being at war about one thing or another, but there's still hope that the rift between them can be healed someday. Rated T for racial issues.


Millennia-old rivalries. Racial Inequality.  
Off-world interference. Betrayal. Murder.  
These are the continuing tribulations  
Of the Mon Calamari and the Quarren of Dac.

* * *

Calamari are dreamers and idealists  
Who dream of better tomorrows.  
Quarren are pragmatic and conservative  
And hold fast to old traditions.

* * *

Mon Calamari is also their home,  
Where endless oceans thrive on life,  
Floating cities are their homes,  
The galaxy is their sea of wonder.

* * *

The Mon Cals with their dome-shaped heads  
And big eyes for seeing in dark depths,  
And the Quarren with their squid-like heads,  
Are well adapted to life in the water.

* * *

But prejudice has made these two great races  
Divided and conflicted with each other,  
With the Quarren feeling that they have got  
The short end of the Calamari stick.

* * *

The undereducated Quarren elders  
Blamed the Calamari for brainwashing their children  
When the latter took many Quarren youths and kids  
And taught them the ways of galactic life.

* * *

The children in turn began to see  
The Quarren elders as primitive savages,  
And a rift was made between the generations  
Where they saw themselves as second-class.

* * *

The war of the Calamari vs. the Quarren  
Continues to rage to this very day  
In the form of the terrible Clone Wars  
And the wrath of the Galactic Empire.

* * *

The Quarren Isolation League  
Joined Count Dooku's Confederacy,  
And attempted to separate themselves  
From the Mon Cala forever.

* * *

But the corrupt Republic army  
Sent clone troops and a Jedi Master  
To stop the League from dividing the races  
And bring a peace treaty in order.

* * *

The Mon Calamari also had ones  
Who believed the Confederacy to be right,  
As Commander Merai led a faction of Cala  
To aid the cause of freedom in the galaxy.

* * *

Against all odds, this honorable warrior  
Nearly ended the war by destroying the clone troops' home.  
But for the treachery of two Sith Lords,  
He would have saved the galaxy that day.

* * *

But then the Empire came around  
And bombed their planet's cities  
In an attempt to show the galaxy  
That the Emperor would tolerate no dissent.

* * *

This tragedy was caused by a Quarren  
Named Seggor Tels who hated the Mon Cals,  
And wanted them to suffer badly  
At the hands of a monstrous military.

* * *

But the Empire betrayed his people.  
They took both Quarren and Mon Cala  
To be hard-driven, oppressed slaves  
For the Imperial workforce.

* * *

It was then that the Cals and the Quarren  
Came to their senses and realized  
That they had to work together  
To stop the Imperial brutality.

* * *

The Mon Calamari became the soul  
Of the fledgling Rebel Alliance  
And invited the Quarren to help  
And lay aside their personal troubles.

* * *

Gial Ackbar of the Mon Cala  
Got together with Seggor Tels,  
And together they saved their kind  
From prejudiced human propaganda.

* * *

Even an inter-racial friendship  
Started to heal the wounds of the water races;  
Mon Cala Ibtisam and Quarren Nrin Vakil  
Became as close as two lovers can be.

* * *

They were traditional rivals at first,  
But while fighting as Rogues they became close,  
And thought their bond could be an example  
Of how the old rift could be broken.

* * *

This is who they are, Calamari and Quarren,  
Two water-based races with clashing ideals,  
Different traditions and diverse lifestyles  
That make them unable to see each other's worth.

* * *

One has hopes for a brighter future  
But treats its neighbors like colored people,  
While the other wishes for things not to change  
But are bitter with the other's determination.

* * *

But if these two species will ever love each other,  
They must learn to lay aside their differences  
And in the words of a great black man,  
Learn to love and cherish their variety.

* * *

Only through love and faith in the Force  
And an effort to see with eyes unclouded  
Can the Mon Calamari and the Quarren  
Hope to end the racism of their world.

* * *

Perhaps Ibtisam and Nrin Vakil  
Are the greatest lesser heroes  
Of the legendary Rogue Squadron  
For their commitment to love and peace.

* * *

These two great pilots and fighters  
Have furnished a method to break the rift.  
The complete absence of ill will and malice,  
And mutual respect for diversity.

* * *

So take from this a basic message;  
End racism – we're all in it together!


End file.
